Signments



(No Model.)

J. A DODGE.

SKATE.

N0. 286,792. Patented Oct. 16. 1883.

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IL PETERS. Phala-Lilhngr aplur. wa-hinglw. 11C.

I UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

JOHN A. DODGE, OF SOMERVILLE, ASSIGNOR, BY DIRECT AND MESNE AS-SIGNMENTS, TO THE DODGE SKATE COMPANY, OF BOSTON, MASS.

SKATE.

SPECIFICATION forniing part of Letters Patent No. 286,792, dated October16, 1883.

\ Application filed -May 2, 1882. (No model.)

To all whom it may concern Be it known that I, JOHN A. DODGE, ofSomerville, county of Middlesex, and State of Massachusetts,haveinvented an Improvement in Skates, of which the following description,in connection with the accompanying drawin gs,is a specification, likeletters on the drawings representing like parts. i

This invention relating to skates is embodied in a skate provided withindependent clamping mechanism for engaging the heel and the sole of aboot or shoe. The usual blade or runner of the skate is provided withthree uprights, one at the rear or heel end of the runner, anintermediate one beneath the ball portion of the foot of the wearer, andthe third at the extreme forward end. A heel-plate is pivoted upon thesaid rearmost upright, it having two fixed clamp projections to engagethe rear portion of the boot-heel, and a sliding clamp to engage thebreast of the heel. The sliding clamp is operated by a clamp-actuatingbar engaging a stud or projection on the runner between the heel-plateand its pivot in such a manner, that as the said plate is rocked on itspivot from an inclined position to one substantially parallel with therunner the said sliding clamp is forcibly drawn toward the fixedprojections, thus firmly gripping the heel. The intermediate upright hasrigidly fixed thereon a guide-piece for the-soleclamps, working in theguides transversely to the sole and operated by a cam-plate pivotedabove the upright, the said plate being actuated by a lever detachablyheld upon the same pivot and adapted to be engaged by the upright at theforward end of the runner. The sole-clamps are connected with thecam-plate in such a manner as to bind or wedge between the cam-surfacesand the guides of the said clamps, so that the clamps will not yield orspring back after being pressed against the sides of the sole.

Figure 1 is a side elevation of a skate embodying this invention, theheel-plate and its clamp being shown in' dotted lines in position toreceive the heel of the boot or shoe. Fig. 2 is a plan view of the saidskate. Fig. 3 is a plan view of the forward or sole-receiving portion ofthe skate, the clamp-operating lever being detached; Fig. 4, atransverse section on line 00 at", Fig. 3 Fig. 5, a plan view of thesole-receiving portion of the skate, the clamp-operating lever being inposition to be detached; Fig. 6, a sectional detail of the soleclampoperating cam-plate, its actuating-lever, and their common pivot; Fig.7, a longitudinal section of the heel-clamping mechanism; and Fig. 8, adetail showing the arrangement of the sole clamping jaw and itsactuating 6o cam-plate, upon which the present invention is intended asan improvement. I The runner A, of suitable or usual shape andmaterial,has three uprights or standardsnamely, a heel-upright, 0, nearthe rear or heel end of the runner, an intermediate upright, c, at thesolesupporting part of the runner, and a toe-upright, m at the forwardend of the runner. The heel-plate B,having clamp-- ing projections orears D fixed thereon to en- 0 gage the rear portion of the boot or shoeheel, is provided with lugs cl, which embrace the upright 0 of therunner, and are pivoted thereto by the pin f, located some distancebelow the heel-plate, so that the latter, with its ears D, has a forwardmovement relative to the runner A when turned from the dotted to thefull line position, Fig. 1. The heel-plate B has at its forward end aguide, Z, for the movable clamp 'projection or jaw 0, having a spur, r,to enter the breast or front face of theboot or shoeheel. The said jaw Cis connected with a clampactuating bar, 9, shown as threaded at k, andpassing through a tubular portion, 0", of the said clamp, it beingprovided with an adj usting-nut, on, bearing against the said clamp, andhaving a groove, n, engaging apin, 0, connected with the said clamp, sothat by rotating the said nut m upon the bar 9 the jaw O is movedbackward or forward in-its guide Z to adjust o its position relative tothe ears D, so as to enable boot or shoe heels of different size to bereceived between the said jaw and ears. The clamp-actuating bar 9 isconnected with the runner A, it having, as herein shown, a notch, 5 h,which receives a spur, a, thus operating as a pivot for the bar 9 andconnected clamp-jaw Q in their movement from the full to the dotted lineposition, Fig. 1;'and it will be seen that,owing to the difference inposition of the centers of movement or pivotal points a f of the saidclamp-jaw C and the heel-plate and connected ears -D, the said j aw willapproach the said ears in the movement from the dotted to the full lineposition, Fig. 1, and a heel which enters easily between the said jawand ears when in the dotted-line position will be tightly clampedbetween them when brought to the full-line position, or into substantialparallelism with the runner-the normal p osition when the skate is inuse. The clamp G will be adjusted by the nut m, so as to just touch aheel placed between it and the ears I),when inclined to the runner, asshown in dotted lines, Fig. 1, and then, by rocking the foot down towardthe runner, the said heel and skate will be tightly fastened together.

It will then be necessary to retain the heelplate and bootor shoe withits heel clamped thereto in the position parallel with the runner, whichis accomplished by the soleclamping mechanism, which iswhollyindependent of the said heel-clamping mechanism in its operation, and isconnected with the interme diate and forward uprights, c m, of therunner A. The said intermediate upright has rigidly connected therewitha guide-piece, E, having transverse guide-channels a, to receive theshank portion t of the sole-clamping jaws F G, the said shank portions25 being provided with pins or studs 9 entering eccentric camslots w xin the cam-plate H, shown as a circular disk centrally pivoted upon thescrew 12 at the middle of the guide-piece E.

Owing to the eccentricity of the canrslots w w, the rotation of theplate H in the direction of the arrow 2, Fig. 3, will separate the jawsF G, and rotation in the opposite direction will draw them together, andit will be seen that when they are in contact with the edges of the soleonly a small amount of rotation is necessary to press them against thesole with sufficient force to give the requisite holding-power. Thecam-slots are made very long, however, to accommodate soles of differentwidth, different portions of the said slots being employed for difierentsoles. The plate is rotated to operate the clamps by the actuating-leverK, also pivoted on the screw 12, and provided with a handle, L, having aportion, f bent to engage the upright m at the toe end of the runner.The lever has its pivot-socket properly shaped to be engaged by theunder side of the head of the screw 7), and portions of the sides of thesaid screw-head are cut away, so as not to bear upon the lever saidscrew and readily removed from the skate.

This affords an opportunity for rotating the cam-plate H so as to bringthe proper portion of the cam-slots to act on the pins y, to

place the clamping-j aws at the proper distance to receive between themthe sole to which the skate is to be fastened.

The lever K is provided with a series of e11- gaging recesses or holes,g", and after the camplate H has been turned to the proper position thesaid lever will again be mounted on the pivot v, and will receive in oneof the holes g a projection, h", upon the cam-plate, thus connecting thesaid lever and cam plate, so

, that by turning the lever on its pivot the sole clamps will beoperated. Turning the said lever in the direction of the arrow 3, Fig.5, separates or opens'the clamps F G, and the cam-plate will be so set,when the lever is connected therewith, as just described, that when thelever is turned beyond the runner A in the direction of the arrow, Fig.5, the jaws will be opened just enough'to receive the sole looselybetween them; and when the said lever is turned back again the jaws willbe tight ened upon the said sole and the portion f of the lever engagedwith the upright m as shown in Figs. 1 and 2.

A cam-plate and levrr has been heretofore employed to operate thesole-clamps of askate; but the clamping mechanism heretofore employed isopen to the objection that the reaction or pressure of the sole upon theclamps, tending to separate them, will cause the camplate andclamping-lever to turn back in the direction to release the said clamps,so that it the lever at any time becomes disengaged the skate willimmediately become loosened, and perhaps cause a serious accident to thewearer. This objection is wholly obviated by a novel arrangement of thecam-plate, clamping-jaws, and cam-engaging studs, and guides of the saidjaws. Fig. 8 represents the usual arrangement, in which the cam-studsare in a line parallel with the j awguides and passing through thecenter of rotation of the cam-plate. By this arrangement an outwardforce, acting on the clamp-jaw in the direction of the arrow 4, tends tomove it freely in its guides, and, owing to the inclination of thecam-surface to the path of.movement of its stud, easily rotates thecam-plate in the direction of the arrow 5 and permits the clamp to beloosened. The reaction from the cam -surface on the stud tends to throwit and the clamp away from the side 8 of the clampguide, and themovement of the cam-plate will immediately relieve any pressure of theclamp on the opposite side of the guide, so that by this arrangement thecam-plate will revolve and loosen the clamps, except when positivelyheld.

In the present invention the studs y are placed at one side of the lineparallel with their guides and passing through the center of rotation,they being on the same side of the said center as the center of the'co-operating eccentric camgroove. In order to bring the said studs asfar as possible from the said central line parallel with the guides, thesaid studs are placed near the edge of the clampshanks, and the saidclamps themselves and their guides are carried toward one side of thesaid central line, as best shown in Fig. 3.

By this arrangement, when the clamps are forced outward in the directionof the arrow 4, it will be seen that the studs instead of reacting fromthe cam-surfaces and tending to move in the opposite direction to thatin which the cam-plate tends to rotate to relieve the clamps,

tend to move with the said cam-plate, or to come into the line betweenthe point of application of the force and the center of the plate, sothat the clamp-shanks are forced against the sides 8 of their guideswith such friction as to wholly prevent any farther movement.'.I.his'pressure and friction between the clamp shanks and their guidesis due to the placing of the studs, as shown, so that their line ofaction passes by the side of, instead of through the center of rotati onof, the cam-plate, and the said friction, in addition to that betweenthe studs and cam-surfaces, is sufficient to lock the said parts againstany movement under an out ward strain upon the clamps, and isthe essenceof this part of the invention. There will consequently be no strain onthe actuating-lever K tending to disengage its locking portion f fromthe upright m and in case the lever should become thus disengaged theskate will not become loosened.

By having the clamp actuating lever extended forward, as shown, itserves as a soleplate to support the forward part of the foot of thewearer. v

I do not claim anything shown or des :ribed in English Patent No. 3,459of 1875.

I claim- 1. In combination with a skate-runnerhaving a heel-plate, B,l1eel-cla1np (l, and ascrewthreaded bar, 9, the .screw-nutm, connected tosaid heel-clamp, for operation substantially as described.

2. In combination with a skate runner, side clamping-jaws, F and G,arranged, one in advance of the other, to slide across the skaterunner,and each provided with a pin, g to 4. In combination with askate-runner, side clamping-jaws, F and G, arranged one in advance ofthe other, and to slide across the skate-runner, and each provided witha pin,

3/, to engage circular cam-slots w 00 of arotat ing disk, H, which pinsare also placed one in advance of the other, substantially as and forthe purpose described.

5. The combinatiomwith askate-runner provided with side clamping-jaws, Fand G, ar ranged to slide across the skate-runner, and operated upon bycamslots in a rotating disk, of a removable lever, is, arranged to becon nected with and to operate said rotating disk,

substantially as described.

6. Thecombinat-ion, with a skate-runner, of the detachable lever k,square-headed and angularly-arranged center pin 11, rotating disk H, andside clamping-jaws, F G, said lever being provided with holes in the arcof a circle, and the disk H being provided with a pin, 71!, to engagewith one of the holes 9* of said lever, and having circular camslots wa:

for engaging with pins 7 of said jaws, substan- 8o tially as and for thepurpose specified.

7. The combination of the skate-runner, guide-piece fixed thereon, andclamping-jaws 'in guides thereof with the cam-plate pivoted upon thesaid runner and guide-piece, and its actuating-lever mounted upon thepivot of the can1-plate, and adapted to be disengaged by and detachedfrom the said pivot when in a certain position, and means to connect thesaid cam-plate and lever when in various different relative positions,substantially as described.

8. The combination, with a skate-runner, of

the detachable lever 7c, having anotehed pivotsocket, its pivot 1 havingportions of its head.

removed, rotating cam'plate H, and side clamping-jaws, F G, said leverbeing provided with holes in the arc of a circle, and the plate H beingprovided with a pin, 7f, to engage with one of the holes of said lever,and having circular cam-slots w r for engaging with pins y of said jaws,substantially as and for the purpose specified.

In testimony whereof I have hereunto set my hand in the presence of twosubscribing witnesses.

JOHN A. DODGF.

Vitn esses:

EDWIN W. BROWN, Vin. S. BnLLows.

